Front Lines
by Church Shepard
Summary: A war may be won through policy, money, or technology, but battles are won by the people fighting. Be they soldiers or civilians, all lives are changed during the bloodiest of conflicts. The Reaper war proves no exception, as those on the front lines of Earth battle and fight for survival. A task that will require allies from every possible source.
1. Earth

**Earth**

**Reaper Invasion**

A ball of fire came raining down from the sky, bringing with it an almost sun like presence in the ash filled sky. Despite its intense power and size, the light vanished almost as soon as it had appeared. Its departure returning the bleakness of a night filled with death. However, its brief existence did not go unnoticed by those below.

Jumping off the roof of a car, a young boy sprinted across the pavement, his bear feet crushing against the gravel littered with glass and debris. Ordinarily, the pain of stepping through such hazards would have left him unable to continue, but after two months of nothing else, his soles had developed a hard almost unnatural callus to protect against the pain. Not that he didn't take special care to avoid the most harmful steps, practically skipping across the road instead of running straight through it.

"Hey Manny," the boy shouted, approaching an armor clad Human leaning against a collapsed rail. "Did you see that light? Wonder what it was?"

At first, Manny hadn't noticed the boy, his mind wondering about the same light the child questioned. It wasn't until the boy was standing in front of him, that Manny's thoughts were brought back into reality.

"Damn it, Jimmy," he cursed. "I thought you were supposed to be at camp with the group? I can't be babysitting you out here."

"Oh come on! I can handle myself," Jimmy said, putting his fist on his hips, clenching them in an almost aggravated manner. Despite his tall attitude, the boy himself only reached up to Manny's chest, barely old enough to be alone at home in the best of times, let alone in the middle of a war zone.

"Just get back to Reynolds, tell him what you saw," Manny said, gently pushing Jimmy towards the opposite direction. "And try not to get yourself killed."

Shrugging Manny's hand off of his shoulder, the boy sneered. "Yeah yeah, go be messenger. Don't you guys have radios or something?"

Climbing over the wall, the boy landed on the damp soil, his feet seemed to jump with glee to be on a soft cool ground. He started off towards the east, headed back in the opposite direction of where he had followed the marine. It had taken Manny and his squad almost two hours to reach the road, meaning that he now had to travel the same long path alone to return to camp.

Though to the boy, it didn't seem too particularly long. The only thing that allowed him to recognize the passage of time, was his rhythmic heart beat, which was almost always erratic and stressed. Barely any moon light lit his way, and the stars were even less so. The sun could barely penetrate the sky during the day, the once blue scenery now replaced with ash and smoke. Rumors were that the entire planet was covered in darkness and fire, covering far more than simply the UK. An idea that grew increasingly more realistic as time passed and the fighting with the Reapers worsened.

Something caught Jimmy's attention, diverting his gaze towards a collapsed house. Three Cannibals walked into his field of view, followed closely by a Marauder, their bionic like appearance giving them a clear outline through the fog and smoke. Panicked, Jimmy dropped down, his presence now hidden behind a small patch of grass.

"Crap crap crap, I am going to be in so much trouble," he cursed, his voice barely above a whisper. He could hear the Reaper forces howling, groveling like dying animals in the mud. Peeking through a gap in the grass, Jimmy struggled to make out what they were doing. It appeared to him that they were searching through the smoldering ruins, the Cannibals were pushing over rocks and walls, trying to find something hidden below it all. At first, Jimmy thought they had somehow spotted him from afar, well before he had managed to see them, and they were now looking to where they found him last.

Panic set in again, as Jimmy tensed his muscle preparing to take off and sprint away. He was almost positive they were looking for him, it was the only logical explanation, and he was unwilling to be dragged away to the city to be processed. Positioning his arms, Jimmy readied to push himself up, waiting until all four of the aliens were facing a different direction. If he could just make it across the field, then he might be able to lose them.

A shrill shriek stopped him cold, freezing his body in place. The Marauder was pulling something from under a crumbling counter, struggling as the something resisted its grip.

"Let me go you creep!" the something said, sliding out from below the counter for Jimmy to see. It was a girl, her clothes barely rags that hung on her half starved body. Despite her seemingly frail and weak demeanor, she was intent on giving the Marauder a fight, resisting his grip with wild turns and kicks of her legs.

She barely managed to break free, dropping to the ground as the Marauder stepped back stunned. Desperately, she struggled to crawl away backwards, her eyes trained in fear on the monster before her. Scooting across the ground, the girl backed up against the counter behind her, blocked from escaping.

"Lydia, run!" Another voice screamed through the air. Coming out of seemingly nowhere, a tall muscular man came running towards the Marauder, hitting the creature to the ground. Shaking away her fear, the girl jumped off the ground and sprinted away from the house. The Cannibals, realizing their leader was in danger ,rushed to its aid. Surrounding the man, they readied their weapons to fire.

Jimmy had been watching all of this unfold before him, fear still gripping his body. He could see the man charge the Cannibals, watching at his futile attempt to fight back.

"Moron," Jimmy muttered to himself. "Should of kept running." The man had tackled one of the Cannibals to the ground beyond his field of view. He took notice of the girl again, who was running straight towards him. In a moment, she would trip right on top of him, or at the very least step right over him. If he hadn't been in harms way, he might have just let her run and remained safely hidden. But as it were, that was no longer an option.

Pushing himself up, Jimmy was almost amused when the girl stopped dead in her tracks, obviously surprised that another Human was standing before her, a look of shock appearing evident on her face. She couldn't have been older than him, maybe only thirteen or fourteen. Her messy black hair covering her dirt encrusted face, bringing a darker hue to her already dark complexion.

"Who are.." she started, before gunshots from the house behind her caused her to turn. The squad of Reaper forces had recovered from their little skirmish, and were now looking towards their position. "No, Brian?" she cried out, dread already edging into her psyche.

Having already taken his first step away from the whole debacle, Jimmy paused for the slightest moment, turning to look at the girl staring back at the approaching soldiers.

_I can't leave her here like this. Manny wouldn't, so I shouldn't, _he thought to himself, debating over what should be done.

"Come on," he shouted, stepping up to grab her hand and turn her around. He sprinted away, leading her away from the Reapers and the house. Their hands remained interlocked as he lead the girl back towards his camp.

They ran, the both of them, sprinting for their lives as the creatures behind them gave chase. Two children, two complete strangers running with their lives on the line. Making into a tree line, the pair stopped, winded and breathless they dropped to the ground behind the safety of a large tree that had somehow remained standing.

"I don't know how much farther I can go," the girl said between shallow breathes.

"There's a camp with soldiers not too far away form here, if we can just get there."

"What's the point?" she asked, her mournful eyes staring up at his.

The Marauder and Cannibals were within sight again, their bodies never seeming to tire as they closed in on the pair. Grunting, Jimmy pulled the girl back to her feet, struggling to urge her to follow. Halfheartedly, she complied with his urging, only following the base instinct now to live. Again they ran, dodging through the tress and brush, desperate to improve the distance between them and their pursuers.

Their path dropped suddenly, unbeknownst to them. Tripping over themselves, the pair fell down a steep hill, crashing and tumbling into each other and the earth. Landing on his leg, Jimmy screamed in pain as the girl fell on top of him as well, the sound reverberating off the trees and piercing through the smog. Quickly, she pushed herself off of him, as they both struggled to stand. Unable to put weight on his leg, Jimmy fell back down, almost bringing the girl with him, their hands still clinging to one another.

"My leg, I can't move it," he exclaimed, swallowing down the pain and exhaustion just to talk. He could feel the adrenaline coursing through him, urging him to get up and move, to fight past the feeling of weariness and injury.

Footsteps could be heard behind them, the crunching of twigs and mud beneath heavy feet as the Reaper squad approached them. It all seemed so hollow now, as if each thundering foot step brought with it a kind of imminent dread. Unable to move, Jimmy could only hold his breathe as the steps grew louder, the girl dropping down next to him on the ground, gripping his arm for dear life.

The Marauder came around the hill, turning to face the pair. It was difficult to even tell what the creature used to be, the normal head crest of the Turians being its only familiar trait, the rest of its body had become some kind of mechanical monstrosity of nature that sent a chill down Jimmy's spine. Walking over to the kids, the Marauder lowered its weapon, knowing they were now unable to flee again. The Reapers were known to kill indiscriminately, but there was a purpose when they took people alive, something much worse than a simple death. Closing his eyes, Jimmy flinched as the metallic hand gripped around his shirt collar, pulling the boy off the ground as the Marauder prepared to carry him away.

_That's it, this is how it ends. Should have listened to Manny, shouldn't have gotten myself killed like this._

Suddenly, he fell to the ground, the grip on his shirt loosening as the Marauder fell with him. Opening his eyes, Jimmy watched as the three Cannibals started firing towards some trees in the distance, weapons unloading indiscriminately into the air. The Marauder had fallen on top of him, crushing his already broken leg even further. Wincing, Jimmy desperately tried to push the thing off of him, eager to ease the pain of his leg. He felt a pair of hands on his shoulders, the girl had hurried over to him and was pulling him back away from the firefight and monsters.

More weapons fire flew through the air, dropping one of the Cannibals onto the ground as the other two ran into cover behind a fallen tree. Jimmy watched in shock as a single round punched through one Cannibal, leaving a large hull in place of its skull. The last one moved, knowing its position to be unsafe. It squatted behind a large boulder, easily out of sight from where the previous hail of bullets had originated from. Something flickered in the air beside it, shimmering as if a pool of water had somehow passed by. Jimmy noticed the disturbance far before the Cannibal was aware of anything. The familiar orange hue of an omni-tool lighted around the shimmer, as a hard light blade pushed through the monster's rear, killing it instantly.

The Cannibal fell, and an armor clad alien appeared in its place, his tactical cloak flickering away to reveal his presence. He was quickly joined by three more aliens, all adorned in similar black armor with dark gold highlights. They wore slick helmets, with a large visor covering their faces, that protruded at the end. One of them was slightly smaller than the others, more feminine in appearance than her comrades. All four of them seemed to be examining the pair of Humans from afar, unsure of what to do with the huddled pair.

"Turians," Jimmy exclaimed aloud, recognizing the aliens from some biology text book from long ago.

They seemed to be talking among themselves, discussing something that neither Jimmy or the girl could guess at. And without a translator, Jimmy had little hope of actually communicating with them at all.

"Thanks for saving our lives," the girl said, breaking the silence between them first. The nearest one took notice first, seeming to understand what they had said. He stepped towards them, placing his Phaeston on his back in a small sign of trust. Removing his helmet, the Turian crouched down to be on a closer level with the pair, cradling the helmet between his arm and hip.

"I'm Nero," he said, trying his best to appear friendly to the startled kids. "We were sent by the Hierarchy on an advanced scouting mission." As he spoke, there was a clear delay in his words as he struggled to remember the correct translation. "Do you know where the Human forces are?"

Another Turian stepped forward, shouting something that was unintelligible to Jimmy. Nero responded to him, turning his head slightly to glare at his fellow.

"I can take you to Church, he's the soldier in charge at our camp," Jimmy said, his voice still shivering in fear.

Standing straight, Nero nodded his head in appreciation, translating what he had been told to his squad mates. Looking back towards the kids, he squinted his face plates into a kind of scowl, before looking back at the boy still unable to support himself.

"Are you injured?" he asked.

"I think his leg might be broker," the girl responded for him, struggling to assist Jimmy into a standing position.

Pushing his weight onto her, Jimmy managed to hobble on one foot, as the other stood loosely at his side. "I should be fine, so long as you don't mind helping me out some."

The girl flashed him a small smirk, before wrapping his arm around her shoulders to better leverage his body. "Just be sure to point the way."

Nero watched as the pair started limping out of the forest, placing his helmet back on his head as they made little distance away from him. The rest of his Turian squad spread out, creating a small perimeter around the pair as Nero followed close behind.

"We'll make sure you get home safe," he said to the Humans, trying to sound as sincere as possible in the foreign tongue.

Leaning in close to the girl, Jimmy struggled to talk and limp at the same time. "By the way, what was your name? I forgot to ask during all that running."

"Lydia," she said, readjusting his weight to make the strain a bit easier. "You?"

"Jimmy."

"Well thank you for saving my life, Jimmy."

"Thanks for carrying me home," he replied, a small beam of happiness escaping his sore voice for the first time that day.

* * *

**AN: **And that's a pretty good spot to leave it off.

Right so now to explain this to all of you probably confused people, especially those asking why its in the xover section with no Halo in it! How dare I have a cross over without the appropriate crossing! Shame on me, someone should probably be chopping off my head right now.

I always love the idea of exploring what happens on the front lines of the conflict during the Reaper war, not just from Shep's point of view. And I really wanted to see what happens with all the races and stuff fighting it out, like in the multiplayer but with more characterization and intrigue! As such, I present to you **The Cycle Universe Spin Off! **A small series of battles and war tales that take place on Earth during the events of Mass Effect 3, all set up in the xover universe established during the events of **The Cycle** which is still not 100% done. But don't worry, it will be! I've hit a bit of a wall with that story though, and decided to start writing something that I really really wanted to do. So please, do tell me what you think and share your thoughts in review form. And as always, thanks for reading!

**CONTINUITY BELOW!**

A small note of intrigue for those of you who actually care to read this story at all. I'm going to give a quick rundown on what you need to know about the universe cannon so you don't have to read something else and can solely enjoy (or tolerate) this story.

After Shepard surrenders to the Alliance following the destruction of the Collector Base, the Covenant attacked the Alliance, the Prophet of Truth thinking they could undermine the entire Covenant as a whole. Shepard is forgiven for his ties with Cerberus, and is sent to investigate the first planet the Covenant have attacked. There, he finds a Forerunner structure that leads them to Halo, where Shep and co. discover the Flood and Halos purpose. Destroying the ring, ala blowing up a Covenant ship, Shepard returns home to Earth with the Normandy and a Huragok engineer with him. The crew arrives home, and then Earth is attacked by the Reapers, with a few Covenant ships following them. The Covenant and Reapers seem to be working together, as neither attacks the other, and the Prophet of Regret takes his fleet and a few Reaper ships away from Earth and to another Halo, the Normandy following close behind. There, Shepard defeats the Covenant forces as Truth begins the Great Schism and the Elites are killed. He and the Arbiter become good buddies (Kind of sort of) and he follows him away from the ring after they successfully stop Tartarus from blowing up the planet. Truth heads to Earth, Shep and co. head to the Citadel to focus on the war on large, and using the recently discovered Prothean weapon from Mars.

And that's all I got so far. As always, please let me know what you think!


	2. On Stranger's Tide

**On Stranger Tides**

It reeked of death. At least, that's what the first thought the Turian squad had upon entering the camp. The entire planet carried the same stench, it had since their arrival. A testament to the power of the Reapers, the ability to even make the air you breathe bring with it another reason to feel dread.

"Ask them where their leader is," the squad leader, Allela, ordered. She had grown increasingly agitated at their predicament, there had been a small debate on whether or not they should have originally saved the two Human kids. Obviously, she ordered against it, their mission had already put into jeopardy. They had landed far outside of their intended target, which was now a full continent away, and she personally didn't feel the need to risk their lives for two Human kids. There had almost been a call to court martial, as Nero led their other two squad members away against her orders. Grudgingly, she decided against it.

"Patience," Nero cursed, his annoyance coming through clear. "Can't you see the boy's hurt?"

A small metallic chuckle came from behind them, and both turned to see Kitro struggling in vain to remain silent. "The question you should be asking, is if she even cares."

"Can it, Kit. Or else I may just donate your rations to the Alliance," Allela uttered.

"But, they can't even eat our food," Kitro protested.

"No, but I do feel the need to are more about these poor dear Humans."

This caused Kitro to fall silent, as he debated the sincerity of her threat. By now, the squad had attracted a small group of onlookers, mostly civilians crowding around as their entourage marched through, guided by the still hobbling boy. One of them came rushing from the crowd, sprinting straight for them, an older woman thin and frail. Allela's fingers twitched, as she immediately thinking the woman met her harm, only to relax as she watched her embrace the young boy.

"You had me so worried," she exclaimed, almost on the verge of tears.

"Sorry, Mum. I ran into some trouble," the boy muttered, seemingly embraced at the entire scene.

"Well I can see that, and who might this be?" she asked, taking notice of the girl standing next to him.

"Lydia," he answered. "She ain't got anywhere to go, Mum."

Smiling, the mother gingerly rubbed the girls shoulder. "She does now." Her attention turned away from the two children to the much more prominent aliens behind them. "Hurrying along now, Jimmy. I'm sure they're here to see the Lieutenant." As she spoke, her eyes never left the squad, as she eyed them with fear and suspicion.

Good, Allela thought. Let them fear us, less we'll have to save when the time comes.

They hurried away, back into the relative safety of the crowd, the girl still supporting the boy on her shoulders. Another Human walked forward, this one donning the body armor of an Alliance marine.

"Don't suppose you can understand me?" he asked.

Tapping the side of his head, Nero nodded in the affirmative. "Translators are standard," he said in his native Turina tongue.

"So you're not some Merc band then?"

"Never seen a Merc this well equipped," Kitro quipped, rolling his shoulders to make it apparent the Human saw his armor.

"We're on a mission from the Hierarchy. We need to talk to whoever's in charge here," Nero said, ignoring Kitro.

"Of course, see some aliens and all they want is 'take me to your leader.'" He motioned for them to follow, before walking towards a small tarp at the edge of the camp side. "Name's Manny, by the way."

"Nero, and this is Allela, Kitro," Nero said, passing his hand across the squad. "And the silent one's Nessil," he said, pointing to the fourth and final member of the group.

"Pleased to meet you. I don't know why you're here, but I hope you'll be sticking around. More guns pointed at the Reapers is always a welcome sign."

"Just shouldn't be on Earth," Allela grumbled, too quiet for Manny's translator to pick up. It was loud enough to warrant an eye roll from Nero, who struggled not to curse at his superior.

They walked under the tarp covering, several holes peaking through its ceiling, to find a man and woman bent over a map on a large container.

"Hey Reynolds," Manny said, dragging the male's attention away from the map. "We have some company."

Turning, Reynolds took a moment to register his surprise of seeing four highly armored and equipped Turians standing before him.

"Well, not what I was expecting when I woke up today," he said, still dumbfounded as to the site before him. "Erin, go see that rations are handed out. And that the civilians are ready to move by morning." The woman gave a nod, before walking past the Turians to her duties.  
"So what can I do for you folks."

Stepping forward, Nero handed Reynolds a datapad from his pack. "We've been sent by the Hierarchy on an advance scouting mission. We've been given permission by your Admiral Hackett to utilize what resources, within reason, we might need in order to appropriately transmit information on the enemy and their strength. We have one QEC in which to contact the Primarch directly, other than that details are need to know."

Reading over the datapad, Reynolds chuckled slightly to himself. "I wasn't aware Shepard had managed to secure Truian support so quickly."

"He hasn't, but the new Primarch is expected to offer full support once the Korgan have agreed to help. We're just here to find the landing zones."

"Krogan," Manny exclaimed. "How the hell does he hope to pull that off?"

"Not our priority," Allela snapped, giving a slight glare at the Human through her helmet's visor.

"So are you in charge then?" Reynolds asked, ignoring the other two.

Shaking his head, Nero answered, "No, that would be her, Lieutenant Allela."

"A pleasure," she grumbled, displeasure seeming to drip from her words.

"Then why isn't she giving me all of this?"

Nero took a moment before responding, careful on how exactly he chose his words. "She's not exactly the best at diplomacy."

"Fair enough," Reynolds grimaced. "So what is it that you want?"

"We had some problems getting into atmosphere. Our shuttle is scraped and we're in the wrong hemisphere from where we need to be. Do you have a shuttle, or something we could use to get us to Africa?"

"That's a continent away," Manny gasped, obviously surprised at his request. "Why do you need to get all the way over there?"

"It's classified, by your government and mine," Nero answered. "All I do know is that's the only area the Covenant decided to occupy on your planet."

Reynolds shook his head, annoyed by the entire situation he now found himself in. "Doesn't matter anyway. I haven't got a damn thing to get you off the British Isles. We've got a couple of Makos and a Hammerhead that's prone to fires. We're not exactly swimming in resources here. If I had anything that could fly, I would have gotten all of these people out of here somewhere safe. The Reapers are breathing down our neck as is."

"That's complete shit," Allela cursed, pushing past Nero to point her finger into Reynolds's face. "I saw a Kodiak as we walked through. Don't lie to us Human, we're here on your planet helping your people."

"I didn't lie to you," he responded, swatting the finger form his face. "Last time we flew that thing we burnt the engines out trying to escape a Harvester. Unless you have some new thruster coolants, it's not going anywhere."

"That's it," she chuckled, her laughter even coming across as angry. "Nessil can fix that." She motioned towards her squadmate, standing idly behind them silent as the grave. "Just give him one of your Makos and he can use their cooling system."

"Then the Mako would be useless," Manny exclaimed, causing Allela to change her glare from Reynolds to him. Intimidated slightly by the Turian's bright eyes, able to be seen through even her helmet, Manny bit his tongue. Unwilling to find out what else might be hidden beneath her visor.

"We need that Mako, otherwise we'd have to leave half of our group behind," Reynolds finished for him. "You can't expect me to seriously consider that?"

"I do," she rebutted, staring straight into Reynolds's eyes.

Stepping between the two, Nero slowly pushed away his superior, careful not to seem overly forceful. "Maybe there's another way," he said softly, trying his hardest to clam her down.

"Not this time, Nero. I'm not having you undermine me again, get behind me and stay in line. We have every right to use whatever we need, it's not our responsibility to protect every Human we find."

"Look, I'm sorry about your predicament," Reynolds scoffed. "But I'm the one responsible for all those people you saw. I can't just give out resources I can't spare."

"Then what do you expect us to do?" Came Allela's snide remark, her anger beginning to bubble over.

Now it was Manny who stepped forward, making sure to look the opposite way of the Turian commando. "Actually Reynolds, there might be something they can do. Our scouts found a small ship yard not too far east from here. It will be sure to have what they need, and there's a good chance we might find something useful as well."

"Well alright then," Allela said, turning on her heels and headed the opposite way. "We'll be on our way then."

"Oh no you don't," Reynolds said, causing Allela to stop dead in her tracks. "That place is crawling with Husk, not to mention the Reaper Destroyer that's been spotted that direction. You wouldn't be able get there, let alone back."

Again, Allela turned to face him. Removing her helmet, she held it against her hip, revealing the hard plating below, small white markings covering most of her left side.

"And what exactly do you propose, Human."

* * *

**AN: **So I'm trying to flesh out some characterization. I'm working on making dialogue and interactions more believable, and trying to make the characters more three dimensionalish. I do love my guys who seem to fit into one funny category.

And as always, please tell me what you think and critique as much as you'd like. The last chapter didn't receive any reviews, hopefully this will be different. But it was still a rousing success, seeing as I received three favs/follows after only a hundred or so views. My best guess as to why the view count is so low, is because everyone really likes the UNSC meets the Council fics. Well I most certainly hope you fellows want to see more than just the same old Spartans kicking alien ass. I mean, yeah Chief was a bad ass, but there's only so much green I can take in a space marine.

As always, thanks for reading.


	3. Stuck in the Middle With You

**Stuck in the Middle With You**

Standing around the table, protected from the night's chill in a warm tent, Reynolds and the Turian squad glanced over the map, reevaluating their plan once more.

"And we'll have Erin here ready to help cover you with sniper fire," Reynolds said, pointing towards a small hill on the west side of the map.

"We have a sniper," Allela barked. "Kit can handle it."

Shifting in place, one of the Turians spoke up. "Actually, I wouldn't mind the assist ma'am."

He received a scowl for having spoken up, causing his head to retreat behind the upper cress of his armor. Looking away from him, Allela glared at Reynolds, almost daring him to comment.

Taking her bait, Reynolds spoke up for Kitro. "He'll need a spotter. We haven't been able to get a recon drone back yet, Erin can cover his back."

Allela's eyes dug deep into Reynolds, causing his temple to tremble slightly. He wondered if she would be able to pick up on his unease, to read his worry and prey upon it. If she had, there was no way to tell, her temper seemed to rub off on all those around her, seeming to set them all on edge.

"Then you two will assist the rest of my squad into this ship yard?" She asked, more as a hateful slur rather than an actual question. Exchanging a glace with Manny, Reynolds and him wondered the same thing immediately.

_How is she the one in charge? _Manny asked with a single eyebrow raised.

Shrugging his shoulders was Reynolds's response, hoping the Turian female was unaware of Human body language.

"Yes," Reynolds said, turning back from his squadmate to her. "We'll help you find what you need before any Husk swarm us. With luck, we'll be able to get in and out before we're ever noticed."

"Just stay out of our way, Human," she scoffed, turning away from the table and marching out of the tent into the cool night air. The wind felt good against her skin, pushing through the warmth and friction of her face plates. She still held her helmet at her side, coddling it like a small pet between her arm and hip. Walking away from the others, she stopped once she was sure they could no longer see her.

The entire camp was silent, an astounding feet considering the numerous people still gathered around, staring at the small dying embers of a small campfire. Marveling over the aliens, Allela couldn't help but feel the tiniest morsel of pity, watching the group of people huddled together for warmth. It was the silence that got to her, tugged at the small part of her that urged to feel empathy on behalf of fleshy soft things, as she watched each of them struggle with the hell they'd been put through. A hell that none of them felt like expressing.

_No, I won't pity them while my world burns and I'm forced to fight for theirs._

Footsteps came from behind her, as heavy boots pushed down on the soft soil. She recognized the pattern of the stride immediately, unsurprised that Nero had decided to follow.

"You know, you should be thanking them for all the help they've offered," he said, making sure to keep a few steps distance between the two of them. "They even offered us some dextro food. Better than the rations we have."

"They just threw us a huge welcome party, didn't they," she responded coldly, keeping her back turned to him.

"I understand why you're upset about leaving home, but orders are orders. The Humans weren't the ones responsible for them, all we can do is help where we can."

Nero was met with cold silence, as he watched her uncaring eyes stare straight ahead. Giving a sigh of defeat, he turned back towards the others, shaking his head in frustration at his squadleader. She hadn't always been so cold. Nero could remember a time when Allela would volunteer to aid Human colonies, after attacks from Batarian slavers. There had been a time when she was considered an idealist, always hating the injustice of the galaxy and vowing to bring it to an end. Everything changed once the Reapers attacked, when vids of the Turian colonies burning as the machines progressed to Palaven. Nothing would ever be the same.

Reaching the tent, Nero looked at the group still gathered around in shame. "I apologize on behalf of her," he said grudgingly.

"Is she going to be a liability, once we're in combat?" Reynolds asked.

"Oh don't worry about her and fighting," Kitro answered, stopping his comrade from giving a response. "If there's one thing she excels at is shooting things."

"Then let's gear up."

* * *

Rolling across the tarnished and crater covered road, a Mako came barreling down, engine sputtering just to remain active and alive. Inside, huddled together in the cramped space, the Turian and Human squad braced themselves as the they were jostled around like bugs in a jar. They had been traveling for hours, and the toll of their claustrophobia was beginning to take its toll. Suddenly, the vehicle came to a stop, its breaks screeching from overuse and degeneration.

Turning from his position in the front seat, Reynolds opened the side door. It opened to reveal a charred forest, barely able to be called so with its once massive trees now reduced to mulch.

"Erin Kitro, this is your stop," he said, pointing for them to exit. "Watch each other's backs." Jumping out of the Mako, the pair watched as the door closed and the vehicle started down the hill towards the ship yard below.

Having spotted a rock to sit and lean against, Kitro strolled over to it, before getting as comfortable as he could on the ground. He took out his Mantis, placing its barrel atop a second smaller rock in front of him to steady his aim. He watched as Erin lay flat on her stomach, sniper perched on the ground, she kept a watchful eye in the scope.

"So, Erin was it?" Kitro asked, breaking the still silence.

"Yep," she responded, keeping her gaze steady. "What was yours again?"

"Erm, Kitro," he muttered.

"So what's your story then?"

"Sorry, I don't understand?" His voice was a higher pitch than any Turian Erin had heard before, but it carried with it a distinctive metallic ring that stuck in his throat long after the words had passed.

"The story behind you and your squad. Where you're from, why you're here."

Rolling his head around, Kitro loosened his neck before answering. "Oh, that makes sense. We're part of the 26 Armiger Legion; similar to you N7s, but more involved with front line work."

"As opposed to?"

"Well, sneaking around and doing that special forces nonsense," he said haphazardly. Looking towards her, he shuddered slightly as he caught the glare she gave him from behind her helmet. "Not that there's anything inherently wrong with that."

"Uh-huh, keep talking bird man," she said mockingly, turning her attention back to the scope. "So what about you?"

"There's nothing interesting about me, I just try not to get shot at."

"Oh come on," she cried. "No family or friends back home?"

He chuckled at the casualness of her question. They were talking as if nothing was wrong with the world, and they weren't in the middle of a mission surrounded by death. Somehow, it calmed him some, releasing some tension that had been building inside of him.

"No, no family. Which seems to be a blessing now, considering everything."

"You must have a girl then. Or do you have it hot for that Allela." Now it was Erin's turn to laugh, as she watched the exasperated stuttering that followed.

"What, no no no. You have the wrong idea." Kitro spoke with a kind of urgency, eager to erase such an outlandish idea from Erin's thoughts.

Laughing harder now, Erin was overly amused by his desperate attempt to hide his embarrassment. "Relax, I'm just giving you a hard time."

"Do Humans always act this casual on a mission?"

Shrugging her shoulders, she responded. "Not always, but its good to blow off tension. So long as it doesn't interfere, Reynolds never seemed to mind." She turned around now to look at him, glaring at the blackened visor on his helmet, trying to figure out what he was thinking. "Don't tell me Turians are always so stern and serious?"

"Spirits no. They push us hard and expect us to keep in line, but we're allowed to loosen up on our down time."

_"Erin, do you have eyes on us?" _A voice said, coming in through her helmet's radio.

Turning back around, she used her sniper rifle's scope to spot the Mako, the squads clamoring out of it into the brush. "I see ya, Manny, not that this smoke is making it any easier," she grumbled, zooming in to view them in more detail. She trailed the sniper away from the group, scanning the outer wall of a fence for anything moving. "Everything looks clear from up here, haven't seen any motion."

"Wait, hold up," Kitro said, causing all of them down below to drop immediately to a crouched position. "I see a couple of Husk to the north. You take the left one."

Moving the rifle slightly, Erin spotted them as well. "On your mark," she whispered, finger trembling on the trigger, eager to pull. She heard his shot ring out, dropping one of the Husk in an instant, hers followed barely a second later.

"Clear," he said, allowing the squad to move forward. "Not bad there, Erin. Surprised your species can hit something from so far away."

"Is that a challenge?" Erin asked, intrigued by someone testing her abilities. "You sure you want to try that, especially with that old Mantis?"

Faking a pain, Kitro responded. "I'm hurt, Bianca here is a beauty. She can easily put down anything I point her at. Never mock the classics."

"Well if you like only one shot and a hell of a kick back, might as well grab a Widow. Then it might at least look sexier than that piece of plastic," she mocked, attempting to coddle more of a reaction from the Turian.

"One shot is all I need, and this has much more flexibility than a Widow," he said with a snide attitude.

"I do like the look of flexibility in a man." Her comment was almost drained out by the noise of another bullet coming from her rifle, spattering the side of a Husk across the wall. "That's two me, only one..."

A loud ringing cut her statement short, another Husk fell violently to the ground. "You were saying?"

* * *

The squad had cut the chain lock on the fence, clearing the way for them to enter the ship yard. To call it so would have been a generous overstatement, as the entire area had been almost leveled by the Reapers. What were once structurally sound warehouses buzzing with trade and work, now lay flat and crippled.

Stopping by one of the collapsed walls, the squad looked out across the yard. There were at least a dozen Husk, maybe more were hidden beyond the thick smoke and haze that hung over them all.

"Should be a warehouse still standing on the far side of this field," Manny said, ducking back down behind the cover.

"We'll need to make a run through," Allela muttered, still watching the near motionless Husk. The way they all stood perfectly still seemed almost unnatural to her, even for their Human physicality. She turned to her Nero, making sure he and Nessil were paying attention to her orders. "Nero, stay here and give us cover fire."

"Got it."

"Nessil, you'll come with us." His response was silent, a simple nod to confirm he understood her command, his black helmet giving away no emotion. Turning back to Reynolds and Manny, she pointed for them to lead the way.

"Erin," Reynolds said into his radio. "Make sure none of them try and grab us."

_"Will do boss."_

Looking over the wall one more time, Reynolds took one final mental image, before he Manny and the two Turians jumped over and out of safety. The sound of motion brought the Husk to life, their head snapping, in an almost synchronized manner, to the direction of the group. Now they sprinted, passing the nearest few Husk right as they fell limp to the ground. It didn't take long for the mass of Reaper forces to charge at them, surrounding the group on every side. If it wasn't for the combined fire of Nero's Phaeston and the two snipers, they would have been quickly overrun.

"Over there." Manny pointed towards the edge of the field, a large building coming into view. Giving their last burst of speed, the squad pushed forward, zipping past zombie like hands that stretched out from the mist.

"Damn it."

Reynolds turned to find the source of the curse, only to see Allela had one of the creatures on her back, another two jumping towards her ankles.

_"I don't have a clear shot," _a voice in his radio said. He was unable to determine exactly who had said it, as he rushed back to help the flailing Turian. Shooting the one on her back, he kicked the other off her leg in one swift motion, as she reached for a pistol and shot the third off of her thigh.

"What are you waiting for," she asked Reynolds, coming across as hostile rather than thankful he had been expecting. "We need to move."

She pushed past him, nearly knocking him over in the process. "Gee you're welcome," he grumbled, running over to catch up. By now, Nessil and Manny had made it inside the warehouse, and were offering more covering fire as their leaders hurried to catch up. Once inside, Reynolds slammed the door, causing a few Husk to smash against it in a desperate attempt to knock it over. But the metal held strong, just barely considering its circumstances.

"Shit," Allela cursed again, this time taking a moment to sit on a crate. She removed her helmet, examining it over as she turned it in her hands. There were three large gashes on the back of it, scars left from when the Husk attempted to decapitate her.

"You alright," Reynolds asked, stepping up beside her.

"Yeah, just grazed me a bit. Guess that's why we wear helmets," she muttered, more to herself than to him. She took a moment to observe their surroundings, wary of the dim lighting offered by the holes in the roof. "Let's find what we need, and get it back to the Mako," Allela grunted, forcing herself to stand up right and begin searching.

* * *

The Mantis gave one last hiss as Kitro popped a thermal clip out. "And that's thirteen for me," he said, a small hint of laughter escaping as well.

"Thirteen Husk, now that is impressive." Erin's comment came drowning with sarcasm. "Not nearly as good as my twenty, but still very impressive."

"Oh please," he cried in protest, throwing up an arm in a mock form of frustration. "There weren't even that many down there."

Rolling to her side, Erin looked back to him, a coy smile on her lips. "Well now there aren't."

He was about to try and give a rebuttal, something to wipe away her smug victory before it hurt his pride, but something caught his eye. Without any quick motion or jerking, he activated his cloak, vanishing like a puff of smoke. Picking up on his change, Erin stood up quickly, hand gripping the pistol at her side. Another flash of movement appeared behind a tree, this time she noticed it as well. Pulling her pistol from its magnetic holster, she pointed it towards the trees, tension slowly growing as the seconds passed.

"Do you see..." she started, before realizing that Kitro was no longer on sitting next to her. While her attention was focused on the motion, she hadn't noticed the shimmering Turian move at all. Suddenly, Erin felt very much alone.

_Great, that bastard just ditched me here. _

Another flash of movement, forcing her to jerk her pistol towards it, only to jerk the opposite way as another ruffling bush moved. What ever it was causing the commotion, it had obvious intentions of keeping its location a secret. A moment later, and all the motion stopped, everything became eerily still.

"Where did you go?" She asked aloud, expecting a Husk of some kind to spring up at any moment and attack her. Yet, everything remained quiet, peaceful in fact, until Erin noticed a strange warmth resonating from her right. At first, she wondered if Kitro had returned, and that he was now standing next to her and she'd simply missed him. However, a sickening sound of heavy breathing and low growls told her it was something entirely different. Slowly, without moving any other part of her body, Erin turned her head to look at the presence, barely able to see it through her visor.

She was met with a shimmering light, not unlike Kitro had been like camouflaged in his cloak. But this time it differed, looking more like small ripples in water than the hexagonal pattern of a tactical cloak. This disturbance stood over her, dwarfing Erin by almost two feet. With a flash of blue, the disturbance turned from a clear figure, into a hulking monster. Its face was twisted with wires and flesh, blue eyes glowed from inside its skull, with armor like metal fused into its decrepit skin, looking as if it had been sewn on by tubes that protruded from the creatures joints, only to return into some other part of its body.

A giant arm knocked Erin to the ground, stunning the marine as she landed hard on her rear. Dazed, she could only watch in horror as the monster pinned her to the ground with one of its hand, it being large enough to cover most of her torso, while the other struggled to remove her helmet. Struggling, she attempted to force the thing off of her, fear and adrenaline mixing their way into her as she struggled under the weight and muscle of the thing. Her audacity for escape only prompted the monster to let out a harrowing roar, its face splitting open to reveal a throat below.

The scream ended, as gasping breathes of air attempted to escape in its place. Looking down, Erin noticed a bright glowing blade had found its way into the creatures long neck, almost severing it completely from its body. Now dead, the creature fell off of her on its side, releasing the Human from beneath its weight. Kitro now stood before her, his outline replacing the monster's in Erin's view of the sky.

"You alright?" He asked, squatting down as Erin sat up on her arms.

"Yeah, just surprised is all."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know where it was until too late," he said, seemingly ashamed of having let the creature find its way close to them. Placing his talon on her back, he tried to support her, not knowing if she was injured or not. He used his spare and to remove his helmet, wanting to examine the woman's armor thoroughly. Finally, Erin had a clear chance to see his face in full view. Like most Turians, his mandibles had an eccentric and colorful pattern of tattoos, but his were quite as noticeable. Only small blue geometric lines running down the sides from his eyes, highlighting their bright green color.

"You probably saved my life there," she said, gasping through shallow breathes. "Help me get this helmet off, that thing nearly crushed it." Putting her hands to her head, Erin released the seals to her armor, allowing Kitro to pull it off and toss it to the side. She shook her short hair loose, running her fingers through the fine red strands all tangled in a mess on her scalp. "What do you think that thing is, or was?"

It took Kitro a moment to look away from her, his attention momentarily distracted by her dark red hair, an oddity for creatures in the galaxy. "I don't know," he said, taking the time to fully analyze the thing.

"It has a split jaw, only alien I know with a mouth like that are Elites."

"Elites?" He asked, his mandibles clicking together, puzzled.

"Big aliens from the Covenant, like to wave swords around, have a weird flippy jaw like this." She put her fingers together by her mouth, trying to mimic the signature structure of the aliens' jaws.

"Oh," Kitro said, shaking his head in laughter at the sight of her. "You mean the Sangheili?"

"That's the one, but the last words he got from Anderson said they were working with the Reapers. Why would they turn them into Husk?"

"This is probably why the Hierarchy wanted to send us to that continent. We need to know what they're doing."

* * *

**AN: **Okay and now a little bit more into the story as a whole! I'm hoping to do a Halo ODST with this, where its mainly stories from soldiers just trying to survive on the ground, with a small but thicker plot inching its way in and developing as the universe progresses.

Anyhow, please let me know what you think of the story, and feel free to leave a review. Always appreciated and helpful. I'm going to consider this story a success. It doesn't receive that many views, mainly because I think people only want the same old stories of UNSC meets Rapers or MC goes into the mass effect universe, but it has gotten a pretty good proportion of favs/follows to views. Much better than my other stories which might receive a 1k views but only 1 fav. So thanks! And if you like, help put it out there more so that others can criticize and tell me how awful I am!

As always, thanks for reading.


	4. Make Some Sense of it All

**Make Some Sense of it All**

Again, the Mako bounced across the road, much slower than it had been before. Its occupants carried a much graver expression. They had been unable to find anything of use, the Reapers having already picked clean the entire facility before the squad could arrive. Now their fuel was low, and their morale lower, as the armored vehicle screeched to a stop just outside of their camp.

"Fuels gone," Manny grumbled, watching as the Mako's controls flickered for a moment then died.

"We'll have to siphon what we can from the other one," Reynolds said, following everyone else as they climbed out of the Mako. "In the meantime, make sure everyone's ready to move. We've been here too long as it is."

Nodding his head in acknowledgement, Manny hurried off towards the camp, ushering the small group back that had gathered to watch them arrive. They turned away slowly, still wondering what the marines had planned for their survival. A soldier broke away from the group, his blue armor weighing him down as he hurried over to Reynolds.

"Lieutenant Commander," the soldier said, giving a stiff salute with one hand as his other gripped the rifle he'd been carrying tightly in the other. "You asked me to take a roll of everything while you were gone?"

Reynolds started walking towards the camp, beckoning for him to follow as Erin and the Turian squad broke away to replenish their thermal clip supply. "Walk and talk, Corporal," he said, quickening his pace back towards the main tent.

"Well rations are low, and the water supply is lower. We can't seem to get the water filtration system working, and we're dangerously close to having to drink our own piss," the marine said, grumbling the last few words more to himself than to Reynolds. Stumbling on, the Corporal struggled between looking where he was going and reading aloud the information from his omni-tool. "Fuel is gone, and we're running out of clothing to go around. It's getting colder and folks are starting to notice."

"Just another day in paradise," Reynolds muttered, finally reaching the tent. Taking off his helmet, he placed on the table, careful not to damage the paper map still spread across it. "Anything else?" he asked, never turning away from the table.

"Last squad didn't report in on time," he said, his tone growing more somber now.

Looking up now to face the Corporal for the first time, Reynolds questioned him further. "Location?"

"50 klicks south. Last report in was just under an hour ago. Hopefully, they're just having problems with the transmission."

Shaking his head, Reynolds gave off a frustrated sigh in defeat. "Hopefully," he muttered, all to aware of the likelihood the squad would never be seen again.

"Sir, if I might ask something."

"Why not," he said, crossing his arms and leaning on the table. "Chances are we'll be dead tomorrow, best not to leave any lingering doubts."

The soldier shifted a bit, obviously distraught about the having brought up the subject. Swallowing away his reservations, the marine fumbled over his words. "The others were talking, it just don't seem right us having to share supplies with the civvies. They don't fight or anything, and with food being so scarce we ought to be saving it for ourselves. Why are we bothering to help em at all?"

"Get out," Reynolds responded coldly, his glare worsening by the second.

"Sir?"

Standing straight, Reynolds pushed the marine back and out of the tarp covering, nearly knocking the man to the ground. "We will not abandon people!" he shouted, teeth clenched in absolute rage. "I hear you, or any other suggesting such a thing, you'll find yourself crawling back to London, where the Reapers will be a hell of a lot nicer than me!"

Silence followed, as the marine struggled in vain to make clear of the threat given. He had been so shocked by the initial shove, that he was prepared for the following fit of anger.

"Am I understood, Corporal?" Reynolds spat, putting emphasis on the rank to reiterate his authority. It might not have meant much any more, but his rank was the only thing standing in the way of the handful of marines under his command from walking away completely. There were possibly fifteen soldiers remaining, protecting some thirty civilians. If they chose to, Reynolds and his squad would be unable to stop their desertion.

"Aye, sir." His response came back stifled behind fear as he watched the seriousness in Reynolds's eyes. Every word came out crisp and sharp, digging into his psyche as an actual perceivable threat to be avoided. Struggling to regain his composure, the marine hurried away from Reynolds, almost falling over himself in a mad dash to escape.

Where before there had been movement, as people hurried to collect as much as they could carry, now carried only silence. Reynolds's confrontation had attracted the attention of every pair of eyes within the camp, watching in wonder as Reynolds struggled to comprehend what he'd just done. He still stared where the Corporal had been moments before, unable to fathom the thought of insubordination had even crossed his mind.

A voice brought him back from the silence, snapping his consciousness back into reality. "Reynolds," it said, spitting it out with a severe distaste. Looking to his side, he noticed Allela standing there, one arm coddling her helmet between it and her hip, giving the Turian the appearance of a scolding mother. Standing straight, Reynolds rubbed his hand through his hair, slicking back the dirty greasy mess as neat as possible.

"What?" he spat, slightly harsher than he had intended.

"You're losing it, take a step back."

Turning away from her, he returned back to the table, attempting to lose his thoughts in planning where they should move next. He didn't bother to respond to her, opting instead to go on as if nothing had happened at all. His silence did not sit well with Allela, who took it more as a sign of disrespect, than one of indifference. Marching over to the Human, she grabbed his shoulder. Gripping the ceramic plating in her talons she forced him to face her. "Take a step back," she repeated in a more forceful tone, practically ordering Reynolds like a subordinate.

"I've got work to do," he grumbled, rolling his shoulder to knock her hand away. "I'm sorry we couldn't find anything to fix the shuttle, looks like you'll just have to walk."

"Which we obviously can't do," she retorted, the slightest tinge of frustration escaping her voice as she attempted to remain calm.

"Then what do you want?"

"We're stuck with you," she scolded. "And I would prefer not having to worry about you keeping your shit together!"

Mumbling, Reynolds responded halfheartedly, "I'm fine," attempting to convince both himself and Allela.

"I just watched you, that man was practically wetting his pants." She motioned to his hands, clenched into fist at his side. "You still want to beat him."

Loosening his fingers, Reynolds pushed the idea out of his mind. "There are lives here that are my responsibility. I know us Humans probably don't mean that much to you, bit I'd prefer if we all got out of here alive! I've had Reapers chasing us since we escaped London, aliens trying to tell me what to do, and the worst part is none of that will kill us. We're more likely to die of exposure before the Husk even find us!" he shouted, again catching the attention of the those around him.

"People die!" Allela responded, her voice growing louder to compete with his.

"Not my people!" he yelled, pushing his body against hers as he slammed a fist into the table, tearing the map apart in the process. He could feel the small dent he had made into the thin metal. His fist stung and then went numb with pain, but he continued to glare at Allela, meeting her stone cold gaze with his own. They were practically at each other's throats, both waiting for the other to throw the first swing.

_Why am I doing this? _Reynolds thought to himself. _She's right. I shouldn't be at her throat like this. _But even as the voice of reason spoke out in his thoughts, he quickly brushed it away, consumed by nothing but his anger and frustration. At that small moment, everything piled onto him and begged to be released in one child like tantrum. Anything, just to divert the stress onto something, _someone, _else besides himself.

Something else grabbed his attention, more hands found themselves on his shoulder as someone else pushed them self into the middle of them both.

"Reynolds, calm down man," Manny said, pulling him back around. "None of this helping right now."

His face still obviously inflamed with rage, Reynolds forced himself to take a deep breathe of air. Instead of a pleasant cool breeze to calm his nerves, he almost coughed on the soot filled air, carrying with it a hideous smell. Nonetheless, the effect was the same, and Reynolds grudgingly moved his hand away from the dent, grabbed his helmet, and walked away.

"Sorry about that," Manny said to Allela, watching as Reynolds left. Rubbing the back of his head, Manny continued. "He's been under a lot of stress lately, a lots happened the past few months."

"Is that not the same Church Reynolds who traveled with Commander Shepard to that alien device?" Allela asked, still watching the Human stroll towards the Mako.

"You mean Halo? Yeah, he, Erin, and I did. Wasn't much easier then either."

"I read the Alliance reports, you lost a squad member no?"

"Erhm, yeah," Manny stuttered, caught off guard of by her question. "Sam didn't make it back, but how did you know that. It was all supposed to be classified?"

Shrugging, she answered him. "Admiral Hackett forwarded it all to us before we left for Earth, it was a long shuttle ride."

"I'll take your word for it," Manny mumbled, puzzled as to what exactly the Turian was hiding.

* * *

Pain was the only thing that edged through Erin's head, as she sat waiting on a cot inside a rather large tent. Her head was still pulsating, every heartbeat sending waves of feeling down through her skull. If the pain wasn't unbearable enough, the medic had left her sitting half naked in the tent, with only her pants and a sports bra on, as he went to find some stolen medicine. Now she was alone, cold, and in pain, cursing who ever had been foolish enough to have stolen her pain pills.

"God, if that jackass doesn't hurry, I'll..." she muttered to herself, desperate for relief from the throbbing in her head. The Reaper Husk had managed to not only destroy her helmet, but also squeeze it into her head so hard that she could still feel the pressure.

_"You'll do what." _

Startled by the voice, she looked up and scanned the tent, only to realize she still sat alone. "Where are my damn meds," she grumbled, returning her head back into the relative comfort of her palms to massage her forehead. The noise outside only seemed to make the pain worse, as she listened to a marine give roll call and order a family to help tear down some of the remaining tents.

_"That stuff's just a crutch, walk it off." _There was the voice again, pestering her almost like a radio call in her helmet. It was quiet, but Erin had still managed to hear it clearly through all the commotion outside.

"Hello?" she asked aloud, looking around the room once more. Again, she found it empty save for herself and a few empty cots on the other side. "That voice, I know it," she said to herself, trying to retain what little sanity seemed to remain.

_"Well I'd hope you know it, I did pull your ass out of the fire several times."_

"No, it can't be." Her voice trembled as the pain was momentarily forgotten, with anxiety taking its place. Shaking her head clear, an act that brought with it another wave of pain as her head pulsated, Erin struggled to fight past her emotions. "Sam?" she asked aloud, coughing up the name in an almost hushed manner.

_"And we have a winner. Glad you haven't forgotten about little old me."_

"No, no you're dead. Reynolds watched you die. There's no way you could..." She chocked on the words, fits of crying attempting to force their way out of her throat.

_"True enough. Guess I'll be going then, same time tomorrow?"_

Biting her lip, Erin fought back every urge in her body telling her to respond. She could almost see their last conversation together play out before her, watching it like a stranger from afar. Tugging at her, the response she would always say plagued at her mind, begging to break free.

"Do I really have a choice?" she whispered, unable to stand the silence that followed the question any longer. It almost broke her, she could feel her eyes begin to puff as a few tears escaped down her cheeks, and the pain of it all came rushing back once again. Gripping the edge of the cot until her knuckles tunred white, she fought the urge to fell, wanting desperately for the emotional pain to be replaced again with the physical.

"Um, sorry am I interrupting." A metallic voice snapped her out of the fit. Rubbing her eyes clear of the few tears, she noticed Kitro standing in the entrance of the tent, ducking through the flap that acted as a door. "Are you alright? I didn't mean to cause you distress," he said, stumbling with his words as he regretted his decision to visit.

"No, it's fine. I um..." Erin grasped for an idea to cover up her fit, something to make it seem like there was nothing out of the ordinary. "Would you mind sitting with me for a while, that medic probably got himself killed at this point."

"I suppose," he said, his mandibles flickering into a smile. "Though I better not catch what ever disease caused your face to leak."

Wiping her face again, Erin struggled to rub away the redness of her cheeks, wrestling through the laughter caused by his comment. "I take it Turians don't cry."

"Of course not, we have hearts of stone. Being sad just doesn't come with the territory, sweet heart." He took a seat next to her, causing the cot to creek in protest of the weight.

"Just do me a favor, don't tell Reynolds," she said, glancing over to him. "He's got enough to deal with as it is."

"You don't have to worry about that at all, doubt I'll talk to him at all."

"Why's that?" she asked, pulling one knee up onto the cot to lay her head against it.

Chuckling, Kitro continued. "That has to be the only Human I will ever be afraid of."

"You, afraid of Reynolds?" Her laughter echoed his, as the Turian leaned on his knees to face her more. "How is that even possible."

"I have never seen anyone stand up to the Lieutenant that way. She's even scared Krogan Battlemasters into giving her what she wants."

"She can't be that bad."

Kitro gave off a small laugh, finding it humorous that anyone would try to defend Allela at all. "No, she's pretty awful. She specifically put the entire squad into a dangerous hot zone while we were fighting Batarian slavers, all to punish us for forgetting to bring some extra thermal clips."

Sitting up straighter, Erin looked towards him in disbelief, unable to fathom such a tale. "You can't be serious, she put you in danger?"

"Well, she knew we would live, but Allela just wanted to make a point. When the slavers had us surrounded, I believe her exact words were, 'Gee, if I had some extra clips I would be able to help you guys in taking them down. Oh well, more kills for you then.'"

"Oh that's terrible," Erin gasped, rolling her head back in laughter.

"Effective though, I've started bringing in two cases of clip spares, just in case." They both chuckled as he finished, their sounds of joy only being drowned out by the work from outside.

Waiting for the noise to die down some, Erin asked, "So why are here anyway?"

"I can't say, top secret," he exclaimed, careful not to let his voice sound too sarcastic. "Let's just say my mission could shake the galaxy to its very core."

"Not 'here' on Earth," she said, rolling her eyes. "Why did you come here to see me?"

"Ah well, I came to settle the score from earlier, you were in the lead as I recall."

"Yes, because you were using that god awful Mantis," she said mockingly. Only to receive a small shove from Kitro, as he faked a pain in his heart.

"Your terrible opinion on rifles aside, I wanted to say that my saving your life ought to count for double your score," he muttered, flinching from the elbow he received in retaliation for the shove.

"And here I thought you were going to do the noble thing and allow the lady her victory."

Crossing his arms in protest, Kitro stared at her in a scolding manner. "Are you attempting to use my species's sense of honor, and your charm, to win over my Mantis."

"Possibly," she sniped, snickering to herself.

"That's dastardly, and I'm okay with it." She responded with a wink, and a coy smile, that caught him almost off surprise. Silence followed, as Erin slipped into her thoughts and Kitro struggled to find something else to talk about. "So if you don't mind my asking," he started, unable to forget the thought once it had materialized, "What happened before I walked in? You seemed a little rough."

Leaning her head against his shoulder plate, her mud stained hair gripping tightly to the armor, Erin closed her eyes, before answering. "There used to be a friend I was close with. I thought I heard his voice, right before you popped in."

"What happened to him?" Kitro asked, doing his best to keep his heartbeat calm at her touch.

"He died, awhile ago now."

Looking down on her, he could see the pain in the expression she gave. Even though her body language was literally alien to him, the emotions she carried were clear. "I'm um, sorry," he stuttered, not sure of what else to say in a situation like this.

"It's fine," she shrugged, attempting to play it off like nothing had even been wrong before. "You kind of remind me of him though, cocky and think you're funny."

"_Think?_" he questioned, slipping back into their earlier rhythm. "I happen to be very comical, thank you very much."

"Sure you are, Kit," she said, playfully slapping his torso, most of her body now being supported by him. "Just do me one more favor."

"What's that?" he asked, mandibles arched in a curious manner.

"Sit here and stay a while. The camp won't move until tonight, and they always pack the medical supplies last."

Rubbing his arm across her back, he smiled softly. "I'd be happy to," he said, feeling her soft skin beneath his hard talons.

* * *

**AN:** Testing some more things here, let me know what you think. As always, thanks for reading and feel free to leave reviews telling me what you think about the story thus far.


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